In a recent discovery by researchers at Northwestern University, a team has figured out a method to redesign a chemotherapy drug into a new, nanoparticle form that is several times more potent than its previous form while also being safer for the patient.
If this discovery gathers further proof, this could mean that the treatment of cancer could take a massive step towards being cured, like other common diseases.
The basic premise behind the innovation is how the drug has been restructured. Unlike its previous form, which was weak and had a poor ability to dissolve, the new version makes use of spherical nucleic acids to make the drug target the cancer more reliably and can prevent damage to healthy tissue.
The drug was tested on animals with leukemia. Leukemia is a fast-spreading blood cancer that is incredibly hard to treat. When the new drug was compared to the old, it was found to be 12.5 times more efficient and caused 20,000 times more damage to cancer cells, making it significantly more effective at destroying the cells.
With how effective the drug was, the progression of cancer was slowed by 59 times its previous rate. The success of this method has been a ringing endorsement of nanomedicine, and if this method can be used on humans, it could revolutionize how cancer is treated.
Cancer has become the boogeyman of modern society, and it is a relief to hear that significant progress has been made to destroy the menace that has taken far too many lives. I hope these scientists receive the recognition they deserve and that they are able to convert the innovation over to human medicine.
